Ancient Philosophy, in particular:
  • Plato: The Republic
  • Marcus Aurelius: Meditations
  • Seneca: Letters From A Stoic
If these gel with your mind, you can venture further down the Hellenistic Philosophy route.
One of my key lessons from these works is that without a "framework" of life, you typically have to make un-principled decisions from the ground up. Philosophy of that time was really geared toward building a holistic framework for life.
Further to that, I would recommend Military Strategy as a useful topic— How do the best generals through history make exceptional decisions at the highest level, under maximum duress, at the highest stakes?:
  • Sun-Tzu: The Art of War
  • John Lewis Gaddis: On Grand Strategy
  • Carl Von Clausewitz: On War
Not only did these books help my decision making, but developed my ability to build multi-decade strategic thinking as a (ever improving) skillset.
Until a few years ago, I was not a very avid reader— I still have a long way to go, but I have been an obsessive self-learner since 11 or 12. There is wisdom in some old books that has been really profound to me.
Exactly what I was after, thank you!
Hadn't considered the military strategy topic much, just now bought the Gaddis book on your recommendation - it looks amazing 🙂
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Enjoy!
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